Wall Street Drops for Second Day, But Cramer Finds Positives

After U.S. stocks finished near session lows Thursday, extending their losses a day after a massive post-election drop, Jim Cramer still managed to provide an optimistic view of the market.

CNBC

"I try to be as optimistic, not as bullish, but as optimistic as possible because historically that's been a pretty terrific philosophy for me considering that I made my first stock buy at 880 on the Dow Jones industrial average 34 years ago," Cramer said, noting the Dow tumbled 121.41 points, or 0.94 percent, to close at 12,811.32 on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index fell 17.02 points, or 1.22 percent, to finish at 1,377.51. The Nasdaq dropped 41.71 points, or 1.42 percent, to end at 2,895.58.

"Moments like these sure challenge that optimism and force me to summon encouragement to stay with stocks when the mood has turned sour, maybe too sour, and the prices seem too high versus the news backdrop," Cramer said.

Then again, Cramer was able to find a pro for every con plaguing the market today.

Pros & Cons Plaguing the Markets Now

Mad Money host Jim Cramer breaks down the most overwhelming "pros" and "cons" that are gripping the markets.

Take the "fiscal cliff," for example. It refers to a series of enacted legislation, which, if unchanged, will result in tax increases and spending cuts come January 1. Cramer noted the looming "fiscal cliff" is nothing new, though. He said it's only being talked about now because President Barack Obama beat Republican challenger Mitt Romney to win reelection.

"As long as his candidacy was alive, the chance for a deal was a alive because a new cast of characters in Washington, particularly a Republican in the White House, gave you hope that a deal averting anything drastic could be reached," Cramer said. "Now, the conventional wisdom's saying, we're back to the same antagonists who couldn't agree last time, so there's no hope of getting a deal this time."

Ultimately, though, Cramer thinks Republicans will realize that it's "political suicide" not to compromise tax increases because if they fail to compromise and the country falls off the "fiscal cliff," he doubts they will get reelected. So, he thinks it will likely get resolved in time.

(Read More: S&P: 15 Percent Chance US Goes Off 'Fiscal Cliff')

Meanwhile, Cramer noted third-quarter quarterly earnings have mostly been disappointing. As a result, stocks will fall to levels where the bad news is priced in. As expectations are reduced now, companies are more likely to beat expectations next quarter, he said.

Of course, Cramer added that some companies did report better-than-expected earnings. Qualcomm and Time Warner, for example, recently delivered strong quarterly numbers.

Elsewhere in the market, some investors are nervous about Europe, but Cramer pointed out that the region has been struggling for some time. If Europe has taken a turn for the worse, though, Cramer said it can be countered by positive signs out of China's economy.

So what's the bottom line?

"We've got cons galore, but there are some pros out there, too," Cramer said. "It's sequential, though, just like the horse and the cart. We have to put the cons that drive the market down before the pros that can take it back up and only then can we return to a more hospitable market."